They say the best things come in threes and the junior squash section at the East Gloucestershire Club in Cheltenham would certainly vouch for that.

That’s because the youngsters are coached by a trio of forward-thinking ladies – Sophie Lane, Fiona Geaves and Charlotte Elgood.

Sophie Lane is the head coach and all three work in hand in hand for the common good of the 70 youngsters at the club.

And they are doing a pretty good job too with over 20 boys and girls being selected to represent Gloucestershire from under-11 right up to under-19.

Sophie, a coach for more than 30 years, has been looking after the youngsters at the Old Bath Road club for five years.

“It’s thriving at East Glos,” she said. “We get a lot of satisfaction from taking on youngsters as beginners and then seeing them develop as players.

“Squash is a great sport to play and helps to develop hand and eye coordination, endurance, balance and flexibility.

“The beauty of squash is that it can be played 12 months of the year as it is never affected by the weather. It’s such a sociable game and helps gives youngsters confidence and social skills for later in life.

“East Glos also have many adults playing squash and racketball as this exciting and dynamic game gives a great workout, ticking all the right boxes.

“There are sessions during the week which provide structure coaching sessions for all standards and are attended well.

“We have many young girls and women playing squash and racketball at East Glos and quite a few play for the county.

Among the leading lights are Ellie Jones and Carys Jones, who are top-ranked England squash players and both play for the men’s teams at East Glos, while Carys, Ellie, Freya Lane, Poppy Lane, Jess Johnson and Isobel Johnson have all represented Gloucestershire and the South West in their age groups.

England Squash and Racketball have been promoting the initiative ‘This Girl Can’ with a view to increasing participation and encouraging more woman and girls into the sport.

They have been keen to increase the number of female coaches to reach out to this group of people.

Sophie is a level 3 coach and runs a popular Saturday morning drop-in session as well as beginner, intermediate and advanced groups which are run on a weekly basis.

She also runs adult squash and racketball sessions though the week and is also available for an individual lesson if required.

Fiona is a level 3 performance coach and brings to the club a wealth of experience. She has been a world class player with a highest ranking of five.

Since retiring from the sport Fiona has had a passion for working with world class players, helping them achieve their dreams and had been working as a national performance coach for England Squash.

Charlotte is the newest member to the team. She has just achieved her level 2 coaching qualification and has been working to introduce more women into the sport.

She is particularly interested in racketball and runs a ladies’ racketball drop-in session every Monday evening.

She is also involved with the juniors at the club helping out with the weekly sessions and is keen to increase participation and develop the juniors further.

East Glos have four squash courts and club manager Darren Morris said: “The sport is thriving at the club and Sophie, Fiona and Charlotte are a huge part of that.

“They do so much for the youngsters and always do it with smiles on their faces.”